Friday, 19 April 2013

Last week, in between Boston gigs, we spent a night up in Vermont and played at one of my favorite venues- JD McCliment's Pub in Putney. Before the gig we stopped by Brattleboro Community Radio for an interview. Here is a clip including a new song called "Learn to Fight." Hope you like it!

Wednesday, 10 April 2013

Just a few observations from Brooklyn.
Brooklyn is a place of urban adventure. It's kind of a cross between Grand Theft Auto and the Lion King with a touch of Coming to America on the side. I was happy to notice that there were still folks in certain parts of the borough who maintain the tiny dog in a handbag look. It's clearly the thing to do so I got to thinking of how I might pull of the same look but do it in my own traveling, worldly conscious, kind of way. What I came up with was perhaps a neutered/spayed rescue pitbull in an old CVS shopping cart. This way I could not only carry my canine attache but also my guitar and my fresh from a street vender vegetables. The CVS cart would come from the killer junk shop across the street from Pearls which I heard about but was never able to go into due to the rotating and ever changing opening time that I just couldn't ever quite pin down. Until of course that one perfect day where everything just came together. I would then write a how-to on how everything came together, put a mustache on it and sell it to the hipsters in Williamsburg.

St Patty's Day with Jon, Jim Greene and Taylor Floreth

Our time in Brooklyn was fantastic and in typical NYC fashion, even though you don't think you're very busy...whoosh a month goes by and you're left to wonder...where does the time go? That seems like a song doesn't it? I was incredibly fortunate to hook up with my very good friend John LaDeau for a few shows this time around. One at the wonderful Jalopy Theatre which was certainly one of the best shows of the month. I also met a new favorite, Jan Bell, where she hosted a great night of music not only at the 68 Jay Street but also at the Superfine. The Superfine show was with a quartet on St. Patrick's Day and it was the most un-St. Patty's Day show I could have ever imagined. There was no green beer, no green shirts, no bangers and mash, and no party. In other words it was absolutely perfect.

with Jon LaDeau at the Jalopy photo by: Jack Hirschorn

I was also able to spend a few days recording in Manhattan with Linus from Marques Bovre and the Evil Twins. We were able to hang out and spend a good deal of time getting some new songs down to tape as well as visiting the guitar store to play guitars neither of us could afford. We also were able to spend some time listening to Marques Bovre records and that was awesome. I'll be heading back to New York at the end of the month to wrap things up and opefully we'll have some of the new Manhattan sessions out soon!

How often does the train go by? So often, you won't even notice.

Bushwick was/is great. We were staying in Bushwick which has a lot of taco joints, taco carts, taco trucks, and tacos at about every bodega on every street corner you'll find. I may have eaten tacos for every meal for nearly a week and I was perfectly fine with that. Bushwick is a great mix of the old neighborhood, with old brewery buildings and Polish immigrants, and the new with a nice wine joint here and there- but don't let the wine joints make you too comfortable....be sure you watch where you walk. There are a lot of dogs in Bushwick.